Fluid shut-off valves used in household water lines and gas lines, for example, ordinarily comprise a closing valve containing a closing mechanism operated by a small circular handle adapted to rotate to open or close the valve mechanism. Typical household handles ordinarily are two to three inch diameter circular handles, although copper plumbing valve handles can be somewhat smaller. The small metal pipe valves quite often stick or are otherwise difficult to open or close if not used often causing such handles to be difficult to grasp while rotating regardless if one's hands are small or large. Physical impairments such as arthritis substantially increase the difficult task of securely grasping the small valve handles. Most metal valve handles are made of stamped metal where the metal handles contain undesirable burs and sharp edges causing additional physical discomfort while grasping the small handles on shut-off valves.
It now has been found that a molded elastomeric cap adapted to be snap-fitted onto essentially circular, small valve handles for opening or closing shut off valves provide the shut-off valves with a comfortable gripping means to improve the hand grasp and to increase the gripping area while considerably increasing the mechanical advantage and applied torque to open or close the small valve handle. The molded elastomeric cap is generally polygonal in design having a discontinuous circular periphery comprising alternating protrusions circumferentially interspaced with flat indents to provide a comfortable and secure gripping structure within the palm and stretched fingers of a hand grasping the elastomeric cap. The internal construction of the elastomeric cap contains a plurality of snap-in portals or sockets adapted to physically engage the radially directed lobe structural configurations on the circular metal valve handles and thereby provide secure locking engagement between the elastomeric cap and the small circular handle while in use. The elastomeric cap eliminates uncomfortable burs and rough edges while providing a comfortable oversize gripping means to the valve handle. The elastomeric cap of this invention is particularly suitable for use with small circular valve handles having a diameter less than about three inches, typically about two inches, where such shut-off valves can be intermediate line shut-off valves or terminal faucet valves. The elastomeric caps can be molded from rubber or resilient plastic or other elastomeric materials and are particularly useful for steel handle valves although just as useful on copper plumbing valve handles or plastic valve handles. These and other advantages of this invention will become more apparent by referring to the drawings and detailed description of the invention.